Chapter Forty-One

Photographs and Tricksters

We were really going to rob a police van. Oh god, I can't believe we're going to go through with it. All of us began walking out of Scott's house, where we decided to meet before going to the sheriff's station to put the tracker on the truck.

I hesitated slightly, biting my lip, before grabbing Allison by the elbow. She turned around with her brows knit together in confusion. "Hey, Allison, can I talk to you?" I could see the slight hesitance in her but she nodded.

I waited until everyone was out the door before speaking, "I know we're not... like, friends or whatever, but I know that we both care about Scott." I began, to which Allison nodded, "yeah?" I took another breath, putting my hands together, unsure of how to ask this, "I can't fight tonight, I can't be anywhere near the action but, you will be. If anything goes wrong, can you just... can you just make sure he's okay?"

Allison's face softened at my words, like she knew exactly the type of worry I was feeling. Without expecting it, Allison put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a small smile, "I'll make sure he's okay, Victoria, but he can hold his own. He's strong."

I cracked a small smile, "I know. But, he's also pretty careless." Allison smiled back, laughing slightly, "trust me, I know that." We both laughed slightly at that, and it felt like maybe we could be friends eventually, without the awkwardness between us.

"Okay, let's go. We shouldn't keep them waiting," she nodded to the door and with that, we walked out of the house. On our way to rob an evidence van. Oh god, my dad will kill me if we get caught.

This was not apart of the plan. I nervously held onto the wheel of Scott's car, looking out the windshield with wide eyes. Kira jumped on Kincaid's back, trying to get him to the ground but, he just threw her off of him.

Scott and Allison began to fight him, Allison also getting thrown away. It was just Scott now.. where the hell are the twins? Kincaid hit Scott back a couple times, blocking each one of Scott's hits until, finally, the twins jumped down and tag-teamed against Kincaid.

It wasn't long before Kincaid was down. We won. I let go of a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, relief flooding my system. I opened the car door and began rushing forward to where Scott and the other's were walking to the cars.

I ran into his arms, letting out a breath of relief. He hugged me back, laughing slightly. I pulled away from him and hit his chest, "don't scare me like that again." I ordered with a glare. Scott nodded.

"Did we get the roll?" I asked, turning to the others. Scott nodded, "yeah, it's smaller than I expected though." I frowned, "we should take this to Deaton." Scott looked at me and shook his head, "I will, you need to get some rest. You haven't slept a full night in two days."

I rolled my eyes at his worry, "I'll sleep when Stiles is back and safe." I crossed my arms, our friends continued walking to the cars, probably not wanting to be apart of Scott and I's disagreement. "Go home and sleep, Victoria. It's not good for the babies."

"Fine. But, you better wake me up as soon as you get home." I pointed a finger at him. Scott nodded, "deal." I smiled, grabbing onto his shirt and raising on my toes to place a kiss on his lips. His kisses still gave me butterflies like it's our first kiss all over again.

I waved everyone off before going back to Scott's to get a good night's sleep. I really did need it.

"Stiles is missing, again." I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache form. Scott sighed, moving to rest his hand on my lower back. "It's okay, we'll find him." I shook my head while looking up at him. "We need to split up."

Scott frowned, "what? No. Why?" I sighed, grabbing his bicep in comfort. "I need to go see my dad at the sheriff's station and you need to go with Kira to talk to her parents." I felt uneasy about him spending alone time with Kira but, I trusted him.

I had no other choice but to trust him. "I don't like this." Scott stated firmly. I lightly ran my thumb over the fabric of his t-shirt. "It'll be okay. My dad won't let me get hurt." I stated plainly. "Okay, fine. Be careful though."

"When am I not careful?" I rose a brow and then frowned, "don't answer that. I love you." I placed a quick kiss to his cheek before grabbing his car keys and walking out the house. He was gonna take the bike since him and Kira could both ride it. I trust Scott. "I love you too."

The station was bustling when I walked in. Officers were on phones while others moved about quickly. Something was happening, I just hope it has nothing to do with Stiles. I walked over to where I saw Derek and Mr. Argent talking with Deputy Parrish.

"Morning Deputy," I smiled at him. Parrish returned the smile, "hey Victoria. Your dad's not in yet." I rolled my eyes, "maybe I came to hangout with you." Parrish gave me a look which made me laugh lightly, "alright, I'll be in his office waiting."

I then turned to the two criminals, "hey Mr. Argent, Derek." I gave them a two finger salute before turning on my heels and walking into my dad's office. I walked over to his desk, running my fingers over the cool wood.

His desk was messy with various case files sitting open and a fast food bag. I smiled slightly, he must've pulled a late night before talking to Melissa this morning. I grabbed the garbage from his desk, throwing it in the trash can and then I began to sort his files, not paying too much attention to what the files said-- I'm not like Stiles and overly curious about the crimes committed in Beacon Hills.

After cleaning up his desk, I fell back in his chair, kicking my feet out in front of me. They ached bad and were swelling. I hated it. My eyes scanned the rest of my father's desk. His computer was open with his lock screen being the Beacon Hills Sheriff Station symbol, three photographs sat at the corner of his desk, making me smile.

The first one was of my dad when he was elected sheriff, he had a beaming smile on his face, my mom had taken the photo. The next one was of my brother and I on our first day of high school, we had our arms wrapped around each other. I had my eyes crossed with my tongue sticking out and Stiles was looking at me mid laugh when the picture was taken by dad.

The last picture was of my parents, my brother, and I; I was on Stiles' back wearing a goofy grin with two missing teeth, Stiles was smiling with his eyes closed, and my parents were stood behind us, my dad's arm wrapped around my mom as they both laughed at us. None of us were looking at the camera.

I picked up the last photo, lightly tracing my finger over my mom's face. It was taken the year before she died. She was beautiful. Her brown hair was in curls that reached her rib cage and she had this perfect smile. She was glowing.

I miss her so much.

The door to my dad's office opened and I quickly set the photograph back in its place and wiped away my tears. My dad, Mr. Argent, and Derek were all walking in. My dad hesitated when he saw me behind his desk but, he just sent me a smile before closing the door behind them.

"The specialist I saw in LA told me the thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit-- "we can't say for sure." And then, I spoke with Melissa." My dad came over to the desk, standing beside my chair while grabbing one of the files, opening it on his desk.

"These are the brain scans-- my wife's and Stiles'. I knew they were similar but,--" I picked up the scans, cutting my dad off. "They're exactly the same... how is that possible?" I asked, setting the scan down with a frown.

My dad sighed, "it's not. Not even remotely." Mr. Argent looked over the scans with furrowed brows, "so, the trickster is still playing tricks." Derek sighed, "but why this trick?" I could feel relief wash over me at the knowledge that Stiles didn't have dementia, but the relief didn't last long when I realized Stiles wasn't out of the woods yet.

We still had to save him from the fox. "When I was in the Army, and officer told me, 'if you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage-- you take away their hope.'" Mr. Argent eyes my father, "you don't look like a man who gives up hope easily."

"But Stiles might," My dad began. I cut him off with a glare, "Stiles is always the last one to give up hope, dad." My dad sighted, "if this thing is inside him... if it's using his mother's disease as some sort of psychological trick, then this isn't just a fight for his body. It's also a fight for his mine. Right?"

Mr. Argent sighed, "you know, he's left people severely injured." Derek added, "and others severely dead." I let my eyes fall closed at that thought. Stiles has hurt people, killed people, he won't be able to forgive himself.

"That's why I need the two of you. I need people who are experienced in this kind of thing. I need you to help me stop him." My eyes opened at my dad's words. he better not mean kill my brother. "And by stop him, you mean trap him."

My dad nodded, confirming Mr. Argent's thoughts. I sighed, "well, this should be interesting."

Allison set a bunch of items on her dad's desk in their apartment. "This is everything non-lethal I could find..." I frowned, "that's not much." She nodded in my direction with a sympathetic look in her brown eyes.

"Take all of it." Mr. Argent commanded. I wonder if all the men in the Argent family sound like generals or if it was just him and Gerard, who I'd only met once when he was principal. "So, what's our plan?" I asked, biting my lip.

Mr. Argent began loading things into a bag, "our best shot right now is for Derek to try to pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen House-- especially if he went through something stressful there." My dad sighed, "should all four of us be going to the same place?"

"Where else has Stiles been showing up?" He asked. "School and the hospital... oh and in the woods that one time." I responded with a tilt of my head. Derek stepped forward, "Okay, hold on-- we did this already. He disappeared, we started looking for him... then we walked right into a trap at the hospital."

Mr. Argent nodded along with Derek, "he's getting us to repeat the same moves." Allison looked between everyone, her eyes landing on her father. "So, what do we do? Wait for him to come to us?"

I bit my lip, drawing blood slightly, but not caring. "We can't. Not if the Oni find him when the sun goes down." I let out a sigh at what Derek said, "Scott and Kira are working on the Oni problem right now."

"That's the problem-- we're all trying to outfox the Fox." Mr. Argent explained. My dad frowned, "listen... I'll understand if anyone wants to back out." Derek scoffed at that, "I won't be the first Wolf to run from a Fox."

Mr. Argent held up his taser, "apparently, I'm carrying a lightsaber..." I rolled my eyes, "I'm not giving up on Stiles, dad." Allison rested her hands on the desk, "Dad, you, Derek, and Victoria hit Eichen house. Sheriff, it's you and me in the hospital. We all meet in the school."

I nodded, feeling safe with the hunter and werewolf on my team. My dad pulled me aside before him and Allison leave, "listen, I need you to be careful. If anything happens..." I cut him off with a smile.

"Dad, I'm with a werewolf and a hunter, I think I'm in safe hands." My dad nodded, sending Derek and Mr. Argent a look before leaving with Allison. I turned back to the boys, biting my lip slightly as I spoke the next words, "... maybe you should bring a few lethal options. Just in case we run into the Oni. To be clear, we're not killing Stiles though, right?"

Mr. Argent nodded at me, "I like to prepare for the worst." He loaded his gun, making me feel nervous and protected at the same time. As long as I don't have a gun, Stiles will be fine.

A/N: Two updates in one day?? I hope you guys liked this chapter. What'd you think about the photograph scene because, honestly I think it's cute to think Stilinski has a photo of his wife and kids on his desk.

Oh, in my last author's note I did a book cover contest type thing. I'm gonna post all the submissions and I'd really appreciate it if you guys could give them a look and tell me which one you like the best!

Please vote and comment your thoughts! Until next time-- XO